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Homemade Yogurt
• 1 Half gallon of milk • 2-3 Tbs of plain yogurt (as a starter), at room temperature • 1 8-10 Qt stock pot • 1 4-5 Qt pot with lid • 1 Metal or plastic spoon • 1 thermometer, with a range of at least 100°-185°F • 1 heating pad Notes: 1) Milk – higher fat content will yield thicker yogurt, so you might not want to use skim. I usually use 1%. Also you don’t need to use exactly half a gallon, however much milk you use is how much yogurt you’ll get, so you can use more or less. Be careful not to use milk that is labeled UT or UHT pasteurized, i.e. the kind of shelf-stable milk they often have in Europe; it will not work for yogurt 2) The point of the stock pot and the smaller pot with lid is to make a double boiler, so the only real requirement is a larger pot and a smaller pot that can sit suspended inside it. 3) I don’t use a thermometer or a heating pad, but they make it easier to be sure you’re keeping your bacteria happy Making yogurt at home is fairly simple, but these instructions, adapted from www.makeyourownyogurt.com, give very detailed instructions. Create a Water Jacket • Place larger pot in sink • Place smaller pot inside it, and hold it down so it doesn’t float as you fill up the larger pot • Fill larger pot until water line goes about half way up the side of smaller pot (to about the same level as your milk will fill) Sterilize Equipment • Place your thermometer and spoon in the large pot of water • Place smaller pot upside down over larger pot • Heat water until boiling • Once a boil is reached, use oven mitts to remove hot items, and dry with paper toweling. Add Your Milk If you do not have a set of pots that fit inside each other, you could heat the milk directly, but you will need to watch it and stir constantly. With the water jacket approach, you simply: • Place the smaller pot into the larger pot of boiling water • Carefully pour your milk into the smaller pot • Once all your milk is in, check to see that water level in larger pot and milk level in smaller pot are about the same. Too much water, and the pot will float, too little water, and you won't heat the milk evenly. Add or remove water if there is a big discrepancy. If your thermometer has a clip, clip it to the rim of the smaller pot Heat to 185°F You want the milk to reach 185°F to remove the possibility of anything interfering with your yogurt cultures. If you do not have a thermometer, this is also the temperature at which milk begins to froth, like in a latte. • Keep water boiling • Stir frequently While you are waiting for the milk to reach 185°F, fill your sink about 1/4 of the way with cold water. (You can add ice to the water to make it even colder, but it’s not necessary) Cool to 110°F, then Add the Starter Yogurt 110°F is the temperature at which yogurt cultures reproduce themselves. You could wait for the milk to cool on its own, but this is much faster and more efficient. • Carefully place pot of milk in cold water bath • Stir occasionally • Like before, you want the level of cold water in the sink to be about even with the level of milk in the pot. • If you don’t have a thermometer, test the temperature of the milk occasionally by putting a drop on your wrist. If it is hotter than 110°F it should sting a little bit, but once it cools to 110 it should feel nice and warm but not uncomfortably hot. Pour your 2-3 Tbs of yogurt into your 110°F milk Stir, Cover & Warm This step requires that the yogurt remain warm, and undisturbed. A heating pad in a quiet corner works best. • Stir milk well to distribute yogurt you just pitched • Cover with lid • Set heating pad to medium and place on a cutting board • Place pot of pitched milk on top • Cover with a dish towel Note: I don’t have a heating pad. Instead I just try to insulate the pot really well—I wrap it in a couple towels and put it in an unused mini-fridge (a larger cooler would work in place of an unused minifridge which I am aware is a somewhat unusual household item, or if you don’t have a cooler, probably just wrapping it in lots of layers of towels or blankets would work pretty well). Wait Seven Hours Seven hours at a warm temperature seems to produce a yogurt that is sufficiently thick, and just tangy enough. The longer you let it ferment, the thicker it will get, but the more tangy it will become. Make your first batch at exactly seven hours, and then adjust according to your taste preferences. Anywhere between 4 and 16 hours should be fine, but if you don’t have a heating pad, after about 9 hours your yogurt will probably be starting to get too cool for the bacteria to convert lactose to lactic acid (i.e. they won’t actually be making yogurt anymore). Stir Well Now that you have patiently waited seven hours, it is time to see what you have made. • Uncover your yogurt and use a spatula to see that milk has curdled/thickened • Stir vigorously to mix curds in with liquid • You will notice a pungent, cheesy odor, and maybe even some greenish liquid on top. This is exactly what you want to see. If you want you can drain some of this liquid to make a slightly thicker yogurt. Really stir it well to distribute the clumpy curds into any remaining liquid. Pour into Containers and Chill Overnight You can use any containers that have a proper fitting lid and can accommodate 1/2 gallon, or whatever size batch you are making. • Carefully pour yogurt into container(s) • Cover with tight fitting lid(s) • Place yogurt in the coldest part of your refrigerator (typically the back) Wait overnight Stir & Enjoy Now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labor! • Stir yogurt well & enjoy! • Your refrigerated yogurt will be much thicker now. Kept refrigerated, it will last 2 to 3 weeks. • Your yogurt has no sugar added at all. Mix with fresh fruit, honey, granola, jellies & jams, or however you currently enjoy yogurt. • Be sure to reserve 2-3 Tbs of your yogurt for you next batch! This can be frozen and kept for several months.